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BurmaNet News October 11, 1995
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: October 11, 1995
Issue# 248
Noted in Passing:
It is therefore resolved, based on the foregoing information, that the board
revokes its previous sponsorship of the Burma Passage travel programme scheduled
for Jan 8-25, 1996. - UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors' Statement
(quoted in THE NATION: US SCHOOL CANCELS BURMA CRUISE OVER
HUMAN RIGHTS)
HEADLINES:
==========
ASAHI EVENING NEWS: FORMER DICTATOR ABSENT FROM CEREMONY
JAPAN TIMES: SUU KYI LEAVES RANGOON TO VISIT BUDDHIST PRIEST
AFP: UN HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY MEETS BURMESE OFFICIALS IN RANGOON
CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: UCLA CANCELS BURMA TOUR
CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT
THE NATION: US SCHOOL CANCELS BURMA CRUISE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS
S.H.A.N : SHAN ANSWER TO BURMESE MAGIC
BKK POST: TWO ARRESTED ON CHARGE OF KILLING BURMESE SEAMEN
BKK POST: AQUINO URGES LEADERS TO SPEAK OUT ON SLORC
BKK POST: KHUN SA AGAIN OFFERS TO RELINQUISH POWER
BKK POST: BURMA DELAYS CONVENTION TALKS
BKK POST: SMUGGLERS HIT
THE NATION: JAPANESE FIRMS EYE INVESTMENT IN 'NEW' BURMA
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BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST
BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of
different topics related to Burma. The scope of the subjects
involved is simplytoo broad for any one person to cover.
BurmaNet is therefore organizing a number of volunteer
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have questions on any of the following subjects, please
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someone who can:
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Burma-India border [volunteer needed]
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Tourism campaigns: bagp@xxxxxxxxxx "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"
World Wide Web: FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
Volunteering: christin@xxxxxxxxxx
[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
************************
ASAHI EVENING NEWS: FORMER DICTATOR ABSENT FROM CEREMONY
October 9, 2995 (The Associated Press) posted by BRC-J
RANGOON, Burma-More than 200 university students gathered at democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside home Sunday to pay respects to elder statesmen, including
former dictator Ne Win and members of the current military government, whom they had
invited to attend.
Ne Win and his successors did not attend.
Fifty-five out of 92 senior politicians did attend the traditional ceremony to honor
teachers, parents and elders on the holiday called "Thadingyut" which marks the end
of Buddhist Lent.
Invitations signed by university students requested the invitees to attend the
ceremony at Suu Kyi's home "without fail." The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner's
name was not mentioned in the invitation.
Maung Maung, a student representative, said that government leaders had informed
them that it was "too early to attend such a ceremony."
The reclusive 84-year-old Gen. Ne Win has rarely been seen in public since he stepped
down from power. During his 26 years in office until 1988 he cut Burma off from the
rest of the world and transformed it from one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia
into one of the poorest in the world.
In his final months of power, as well as shortly after he stepped down, thousands of
unarmed pro -democracy demonstrators were slaughtered by the military in the streets
of Rangoon and other major Burmese cities.
Many Burmese believe Ne Win still controls the government, although government
leaders deny it.
Since her release from six years of house arrest July 10, Suu Kyi has been pressing
the government for a dialogue on solving the nation's problems.
Speaking at the ceremony, Bohmu Aung, a close friend of Aung San, Burma's
independence hero and Suu Kyi's father, said that national unity could be achieved
through negotiation.
*****************************
JAPAN TIMES: SUU KYI LEAVES RANGOON TO VISIT BUDDHIST PRIEST
October 7, 1995 (posted by BRC-Japan)
RANGOON (UPI-Kyodo) Myanmar's (Burma's) opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
paid her respects to a revered Buddhist priest Thursday while on her first trip out of
Rangoon since her release from house arrest.
Sources close to her relatives said Suu Kyi, 50, left the Myanmarese (Burmese) capital
early Wednesday to pay homage to the presiding priest of the monastery on Thar-Myin-Nya
Hill, in the jungle 32 km from Pa-an and 160 km east of Rangoon.
The priest is believed by devotees to be an "arhat," or saint, who possesses supernatural
spiritual powers.
The Myanmarese sources said Suu Kyi, who was released July 10 from nearly six
years of house arrest, will return to Rangoon on Friday.
Suu Kyi has maintained a relatively low political profile since her release, giving
speeches to crowds of supporters who gather daily in front of her suburban Rangoon
residence.
Myanmar's military government, meanwhile, has virtually ignored her in the official
press, while pressing ahead with the drafting of a new constitution that will guarantee
the army's continued dominant political role.
In an official notification issued Wednesday, the ruling junta said the 700-member
national constitutional convention, which has been in recess since April 8, will be
reconvened on Nov. 28, a month later than scheduled.
The notification, signed by Lt. Gen. Myo Nyunt, chairman of the National Convention
Commission, said the postponement was made in response to the wishes of delegates
who want to attend agricultural and religious activities coinciding with the end of the
monsoon season.
At its last session from March 29 to April 7, the convention took up the sensitive issue
of creating self- administered areas for minority races.
Convention delegates decided that only six of the country's 135 ethnic minority peoples
have the requisite population size and geographical concentrations to qualify for the
status of self - administered areas.
These ethnic groups are the Naga of the Sagaing Division and the Danu, Pa-oh, Palaung,
Kokang and Wa of the Shan State.
At previous sessions, the military-dominated convention ruled that persons who have
lived for long periods abroad or who are married to foreigners are banned from holding
high-level government positions.
*************************
AFP: UN HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY MEETS BURMESE OFFICIALS IN RANGOON
October 9, 1995
BANGKOK, Oct 9 (AFP) - United Nations special envoy Yozo
Yokota met with senior Burmese military junta members Monday at
the start of his official visit, state-run Burmese radio reported.
Yokota, a UN special rapporteur for human rights, will also
meet later in his visit with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's leading
pro-democracy activist who was released from her six-year house
arrest in July. It will be his first meeting with the Nobel Peace
laureate as he was not allowed to see her on previous trips.
On Monday, Yokota held talks with Health Minister Than Nyunt
and Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe, Radio Rangoon said in a
broadcast monitored here.
According to the report, Yokota also held a meeting with
senior Burmese foreign ministry officials Monday afternoon to
coordinate the rest of his visit.
Yokota, a Japanese professor who arrived in Rangoon on Sunday
for a one-week trip, was appointed by UN's Human Rights
Commission to gather information on the human rights situation in
Burma.
A reliable sources in Rangoon said earlier that Yokota is
expected to meet with senior Burmese military generals, leaders
of political parties and visit country's major prisons to check
the welfare of political prisoners.
CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: UCLA CANCELS BURMA TOUR
October 4, 1995
The following is posted for David Wolfberg:
Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DAVID WOLFBERG, L.A. Campaign for a Free
Burma (310) 391-7788
OCTOBER 4, 1995 DANG NGO, UCLA Rainforest Action Group (310) 208-5978
UCLA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CANCELS BURMA TOUR
UCLA's Alumni Association is abandoning its "Burma Passage" tour package
after learning that the tour would bring funds to an illegal military
regime with an appetite for forced labor and no tolerance for academic
freedom. At the association's Board of Directors meeting Thursday evening,
Burmese exiles, UCLA students, and the Campaign for a Free Burma also
argued that travelers could be exposed to substantial health risks. UCLA's
decision was hailed as a sharp rebuke to Burma's ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC).
In preparation for "Visit Myanmar [Burma] 1996", the SLORC has conscripted
thousands of Burmese, including pregnant women and 8-year-old children, to
re-construct roads, railroads, an airport, and numerous tour spots in
Burma. Tourism-related forced labor has been documented by the New York
Times, BBC television and ABC's Nightline.
For tourists, the SLORC's program is also a bad deal. A docking fee from
leisure vessels will go directly to SLORC. Travelers will have to convert
their dollars to Burmese kyats. The junta gives tourists 6 kyats per
dollar, but it will cost 120 kyats for a dollar's worth of goods under the
common black market rates. In a nation with one doctor per 12,500 citizens,
medical risks are high. The International Red Cross found it impossible to
operate in Burma due to the SLORC, whose soldiers have murdered and
tortured doctors and nurses and destroyed medical facilities. On the heels
of this year's devastating monsoon season, tourists may be exposed to
malaria, dengue, cholera, TB, tetanus, typhoid, and hepatitis.
Visitors to Burma can forget about the outside world, as SLORC controls the
only radio and television broadcasts and the only magazine and newspaper. A
traveler in Rangoon won't hear much from BBC or Voice of America because
the SLORC is jamming broadcast signals.
Following twenty minutes of closed-door discussion, the UCLA Alumni
Association issued the following statement:
Whereas, the Board of Directors of the UCLA Alumni Association received
substantial and credible information at its September 28, 1995 meeting to
the effect that
1) there are serious human rights violations being committed by the
government of Burma;
2) that the US State Dept. is considering issuing travel restrictions
or canceling travel visas to Burma; and
3) that some human rights groups are advocating an economic boycott of
Burma.
It is therefore resolved based upon the foregoing information that the
Board revokes its previous sponsorship of the Burma Passage travel program
scheduled for January 8 - 25, 1996.
In abandoning the tour, UCLA will provide human rights documentation to
alumni who signed up for the trip. The L.A. Campaign for a Free Burma is
calling on other alumni associations, notably that of cross-town rival
University of Southern California, to join UCLA in canceling the travel
packages.
In addition to UCLA and USC, Burma tour programs have been identified at
Duke, Yale, and Northwestern. The Northwestern campus has already been
approached about a related Burma issue - Unocal Corporation's joint venture
with SLORC for construction of a natural gas pipeline through Burma to
Thailand. The Dean of Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management,
Donald Jacobs, is a Director at Unocal. A new British documentary, Life on
the Line, has revealed a pattern of executions & forcible relocation
throughout the region of Unocal's pipeline.
******************************
CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT
October 3, 1995
Posted for David Wolfberg:
Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DAVID WOLFBERG, L.A. Campaign for a Free
Burma (310) 391-7788
OCTOBER 3, 1995 LARRY DOHRS, Seattle Campaign for a Free Burma (206) 784-6873
ASEAN STATES IMPACTED BY BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore And Others May Lose Tour Dollars
ASEAN nations may have to decide between a brutal military regime and a
major industry - tourism - as internationally based human rights activists
push to deprive the Burma junta of the foreign capital sought through its
"Visit Myanmar Year 1996" tourism campaign. UCLA's Alumni Association has
canceled sponsorship of "Burma Passage", a cruise package which includes
stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore & Hong Kong. The final stop of
"Burma Passage" is in Burma's capital city of Rangoon, where Alumni would
have no choice but to disembark. There, foreigners must exchange dollars
for kyats at rates falsely inflated 1900% in favor of the ruling State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Groups like London's Burma Action Group, Canadian Friends of Burma, Burmese
Relief Center of Japan, Southeast Asia Information Network, and Campaigns
for a Free Burma based throughout the United States have vowed to halt
tourism to Burma due to the inexorable links between "Visit Myanmar Year"
and human rights violations, including forced labor and forced relocation.
The groups will be contacting Duke University, another sponsor of "Burma
Passage", in hopes that Duke will also withdraw. The University of
Southern California, Northwestern University, and Yale will also be
contacted.
Burma's neighboring nations will have to encourage tour packages which
exclude stops in Burma or bear the financial burden of SLORC's human rights
problem. If the USC and Duke packages are abandoned, Thailand could be
impacted by three withdrawals from universities alone.
The USC Alumni Association's travel plan is of great concern to human
rights groups because it takes tourists via cruise ship up the Irrawaddy --
a river leading to Mandalay. According to the New York Times [7/17/94],
Mandalay's 500,000 residents have been ordered to send family members for
forced labor on the massive moat around the Great Palace there. The moat
is six miles long and eleven feet deep. Much of the work is performed by
women and children in Mandalay's 95-degree heat.
The Southeast Asia Information Network has reported that forced labor has
also been used by SLORC to build railroads for transporting tourists in and
out of Mandalay. Recently, ABC's Nightline captured footage of forced
laborers, as young as 8 years old, constructing a roadway that is to be
used as a tour route. Tourism-related forced labor has also been documented
by BBC television.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council brutally suppressed a
pro-democratic uprising in 1988, massacring thousands of citizens and
torturing many others. SLORC held Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
for six years, releasing her only this summer. Several businesses have
withdrawn from Burma, including Petro-Canada, Amoco oil, Levi Strauss &
Co., Eddie Bauer, Macy's and Liz Claiborne.
**************************
THE NATION: US SCHOOL CANCELS BURMA CRUISE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS
October 10, 1995
Yindee Lertcharoenchok
The Alumni Association of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has
canceled its sponsorship of the "Burma Passage" cruise package scheduled for next
January to deprive the Burmese junta of foreign capital through its "Visit Myanmar (Burma)
Year 1996".
The decision was made during a closed-door discussion on Sept 28 of the Board
of Directors of the UCLA Alumni Association. In a statement issued after the meeting,
the Alumni said its resolve stemmed from "substantial and credible" information
of serious human rights abuses by the Burmese junta, the US State Department's
consideration of issuing travel restrictions or cancelling travel visas to Burma, and
the advocating of an economic boycott of Burma by some human rights groups.
"It is therefore resolved, based on the foregoing information, that the board
revokes its previous sponsorship of the Burma Passage travel programme scheduled
for Jan 8-25, 1996," said the statement.
The travel package included stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong
with the final stop in Burma's capital Rangoon where Alumni would have disembarked.
In a press release dated Oct 3, the Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma said
group like London-based Burma Action Group, Canadian Friends of Burma,
Burmese relief Centre of Japan, Southeast Asia Information Network as well
as the organization itself will be urging Duke University, another sponsor of
'Burma Passage' to withdraw.
The University of Southern California (USC), Northwestern University and Yale
ill also be contacted, it said. It added that Burma's neighbours should encourage
tour packages which exclude stops in Burma or bear the financial burden of the
junta's human rights problems. "If the USC and Duke packages are abandoned,
Thailand could be impacted by the withdrawal of three universities alone," said
the release.
It added that human rights groups were very concerned with the USC Alumni
Association's travel plans because tourists would have cruised up the Irrawaddy
River to Mandalay, Burma's second largest city and former capital, "where 500,000
residents have been ordered to send family members for forced labour on the massive
moat around the Great Place there."
"The moat is six miles long and eleven feet deep. Much of the work is performed by
women and children in Mandalay's 95 degree [Farenheit] heat," it said.
In preparation for 'Visit Myanmar Year' the Slorc has conscripted thousands of
Burmese, including pregnant women and 8-year-old children to reconstruct roads,
railroads, an airport, and numerous tour spots in the country, it said.
"Recently, ABC's Nightline captured footage of forced labourers, some as
young as eight years old, constructing a roadway that is to be used as a tour route.
Tourism-related forced labour has also been documented by BBC television,"
said the statement.
The LA campaign group has warned that travellers could be exposed to
"substantial health risks" of malaria, dengue fever, cholera, tuberculosis,
tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis due to this year's devastating monsoon season.
It also warned that tourists will be forced to convert their dollars to Burmese
currency at an official rate of six Kyat per dollar while the black market fetches 120 Kyat.
The group said Northwestern University has also been approached on the issue of
Unocal Corporation's joint venture with the ruling Burmese State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc) to construct a natural gas pipeline from Burma to
Thailand. The Dean of Northwestern's kellogg Graduate School of Management,
Donald Jacobs, is a director at Unocal. (TN)
*********************
S.H.A.N : SHAN ANSWER TO BURMESE MAGIC
Muangmai , October 9, 1995
For more than four decades, since the first entry of Burmese troops into
the Shan State, reports about Burmese astrologers using sorcery in the
name of the promotion of Buddhism in order to keep the rebellious Shans
under their permanent subjugation have been numerous. Statues of the
Buddha and Pagodas built by the Burmese are said to have been designed
to sow dissension among the Shans so as to facilitate Burmese domination
over them.
Now the Shan shamans in Homong, the capital of the resistance, say they
have discovered the cause of Major Karnyord's mutiny and the subsequent
chaos in the Mong Tai Army, the largest rebel armed resistance movement
fighting against the SLORC. According to them, one of the many
travelling astrologers passing in and out of the rebels' " Free
Territory " until last year is a Burmese agent who made several magical
designs for the sacred places and homes of the local populace,
ostensibly to help advance their general well-being, but actually with
evil intent. S.H.A.N was shown by the shamans how it was done, before
the ominous designs were put to the torce.
The Shan astrologers' answer to this " Star Wars " offensive of the
Burmese has been the construction of the Saijaikhurn " Line of Life "
Pagoda since last August. The crowning Ceremony in November is due to be
presided over by the new chairman Zao Gunjade, who was mistakenly
reported by foreign press to have gone over to the mutineers' camp.
" You educated people may laugh at us, " says one veteran astrologer. "
But if you think carefully how our troops, outnumbered and outgunned by
the Wa several times, have been able to beat off their offensive on
September 19, you will understand it is not to be treated as a joke."
***********************
BKK POST: TWO ARRESTED ON CHARGE OF KILLING BURMESE SEAMEN
October 10, 1995
Two more Thai fishermen have been arrested by police and charged with taking
part in the murder of at least six Burmese seamen in the Andaman Sea early in August.
The incident occurred on board the JV 44 fishing boat owned by the Myanmar
Narong Company, a joint venture of Narong Canning Company and Burma's Fishery
Department, on August 6.
The murder upset Burmese authorities who reacted by closing the Thai-Burmese
border adjacent to Ranong. The two suspects were identified as Chel Inyam, 19,
and Prachak or Tualek Chaiphoon, 17.
They were arrested recently at a pier in Tambon Paknam, Mung District, while
working for the Suthipongchai 9 fishing boat owned by the Narong Canning Company.
Both denied the murder charge. Ranong Provincial Governor Sira Chavanavirach
reported the arrest to the Interior Ministry and the Fourth Army Region. He did
not mention the exact date of the arrest.
Earlier, the Ranong prosecution had field the murder charge with the Ranong
court against three other suspects: Khamsai Kaenkaew, Porn or Kim Khammarroeng,
and Soonthorn Kaewsongduang.
They had also been escorted to Burma where Burmese seamen who reportedly
survived the incident identified them as the murderers. The murders occurred
after Burmese authorities boarded the JV 44 and took away 10 Burmese
nationals for interrogation following complaints about alleged violations of the
fishing agreement between Thailand and Burma.
Burmese fishermen informed their authorities that Narong Canning Company
had unloaded fish on to other Thai vessels before arriving at a port to distribute
half the amount of fish caught to Burmese authorities.
After the authorities left the vessel, a group of Thai fishermen allegedly began
assaulting 18 other Burmese seamen left on board. Six of the Burmese seamen
were murdered.
The Burmese authorities have continued to ban Thai people from entering Burma
through Ranong but occasionally allow Burmese nationals to buy consumer goods
across the border.
Burma also ordered Thai vessels fishing in its waters to sell the catch to Malaysia
and Singapore where only some types of fish could be sold. As a result, some
operators stopped fishing as the practice was economically not worth while. (BP)
BKK POST: AQUINO URGES LEADERS TO SPEAK OUT ON SLORC'S 'INHUMANITY'
October 10, 1995 Manila, AFP
Former Philippine president Corazon Aquino yesterday urged world leaders to speak
out against the "inhumanity" of the ruling military junta in Burma, which some trade
union groups allege are using slave labor.
Aquino, whose "people power" revolt toppled the Ferdinand Marcos regime in 1986,
said Rangoon and like-minded governments have no right to invoke sovereignty to
trample on the civil rights of their citizens.
Burma's ruling junta, called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc),
seized power in 1988 and disregarded the results of the 1990 national election won
by the opposition. In July it released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had
been under house arrest since 1989.
Aquino told an international conference on Burma in the Philippine capital that
"as members of the human race" individuals and governments both had a duty to
speak out against human rights abuses, which she described as the "worst from
of inhumanity."
"For all nations to do nothing about such inhumanity will be the worst crime of all,"
she added. Aquino said world leaders should "speak out in a very loud and clear
voice," and "the dictatorship would have to listen."
She said the pressure of world opinion in 1977 prevented Marcos from carrying out
the execution by firing squad of her late husband, the opposition leader Benigno Aquino,
after he was convicted by a military court of rebellion.
However, she said she did not know at the time that Marcos had only "postponed"
her husband's execution. He was assassinated at Manila airport in 1983. After
Marcos was toppled, a court under the new government, led by Corazon Aquino,
convicted 15 soldiers and a civilian of the murder.
Aquino maintains the Marcos family was the real brains behind the assassination,
but none of them have been charged in connection with the killing. The Burma
conference was organised here by the Brussels-based International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). (BP)
*********************
BKK POST:KHUN SA AGAIN OFFERS TO RELINQUISH POWER
October 10, 1995
Golden triangle opium warlord Khun Sa has reiterated his vow to relinquish power
once his top aide said to have defected to a rival faction returns, guerrilla sources said
yesterday.
Khun Sa also warned Shan leaders supporting the faction that broke away earlier this
year that their lives were in danger, the source said. Khun Sa repeated his vow to step
down during a ceremony to mark the end of Buddhist lent at his Ho Mong headquarters
over the weekend, they said.
He was waiting for the top aide, Kan Chit, to return before stepping down, they said.
"He (Khun Sa) said since Kan Chit was appointed as the chairman of the Shan State
Administration Council (SSAC) while he was absent in August, he would have an official
handover ceremony once Kan Chit return," Keunsai Chaiyen, a close aide of Khun Sa,
told Reuters.
Veteran Shan fighter Kan Chit was sent by Khun Sa sometime back to persuade more
than 3,000 former guerrillas who broke away from his Mong Tai Army (MTA) in early
July to join the rebel organisation.
But Kan Chit has not yet returned and sources close to the defectors said he had decided to join their group. In order to patch the rift in his organisation, Khun Sa in August quickly reshuffled his faction and established the 12-men SSAC council, which w
as meant to replace his one-man absolute rule
and run the organisation by collective power.
A Shan leader confirmed Khun Sa's remarks over the weekend, but said the opium
kingpin was also threatening the people who support the defectors.
"He frightened us by saying that somebody might kill us and he won't take
responsibility for it," a veteran Shan politician who claimed to have a tape of
Khun Sa's speech told Reuters.
Khun Sa, 61, is the half Shan, half Chinese commander of about 10,000 strong
MTA guerrillas who he says are fighting for the independence of Shan State.
But the Burmese government and international drug agencies accuse Khun Sa
as a personal army to protect his heroin trafficking.
He denies the charges, saying he only taxes opium traders travelling through
areas his forces control on the golden triangle, where the borders of Burma,
Laos and Thailand meet, to finance his political programme.
The July defection was sparked by some 3,000 ethnic Shan angry with Khun Sa's
role in drug trafficking. After breaking away, the group vowed to fight against him.
Intermittent fighting between MTA and the breakaway faction has already begun
in central Shan state. A source in the Thai border police said thousands of combined
troops from Burma and the United Wa State Army were poised to attack Khun Sa
once rains were over next month.
The Thai source said hundreds of people from Khun Sa's camp have fled to
Thai border villages in the past week in apparent preparation for an attack.
But Khun Sa's aide played down a possible attack and said the people merely
left the jungle to work in Thailand. "Yes, people have left from our camps but
they have gone to seek work in Thailand," Keunsai said. (BP)
*******************************
BKK POST: BURMA DELAYS CONVENTION TALKS
October 10, 1995
Burma has delayed the next session of a national constitutional convention
for a month, to avoid disrupting rice-planting and the observance of Buddhist holidays.
But analysts linked the delay to the United Nations annual vote on a resolution
calling for improved human rights in Burma. For now, the military junta can rest
on the laurels it won for releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in July. (BP)
BKK POST: SMUGGLERS HIT
October 10, 1995
Gem smugglers in Burma now face tougher punishment ranging from 10 years
in prison to life, plus fines, according to a new law passed by the junta.
Other lesser infringements, which carry jail terms ranging from one to 15 years,
include the failure by licensed operators to register newly-discovered gemstones
and illegal gem and jewellery trading. The law, promulgated on September 29, sets up a
"central gemstone supervisory committee". Licences are available from the ministry of
mines. (BP)
*****************
THE NATION: JAPANESE FIRMS EYE INVESTMENT IN 'NEW' BURMA
October 10, 1995
By Noriko Sato (Kyodo)
More Japanese companies are contemplating investing in Burma since the
release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in July. "Burma was almost
forgotten before, but suddenly, people want to know all about it," says spokesman
at the Myanmar Center for Business and Information, which was set up in Tokyo
by Burma's military government to respond to the new interest among Japanese companies.
"The country is one of the last frontiers in Asia, and companies don't want to
miss their chance," he said. Burma has been virtually scheduled from the rest
of the world for the last 30 years or so. In 1962, it shunned foreign investment
under a nationalist socialist policy that lasted 26 years, and which led to economic
stagnation.
In 1988, the country adopted free market principles, reopening its doors to foreign
investment under the Foreign Investment Law. Investors have been largely wary,
however, since most foreign aid to the country was cut off after the military junta's
oppression of democracy movements in the same year.
The release of Suu Kyi, who was put under house arrest in 1989, is seen in some
circles as a good reason to resume investment in the country.
"It's a promising sign. We can hope for investment to grow in Burma as in
Vietnam," says Akinori Seki, deputy executive officer of strategies and coordination
at Marubeni Corp, one of the major trading companies that is looking to do long-term
business in Burma.
To encourage companies, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry this year
resumed underwriting trade insurance policies for investment in the country,
suspended since 1988.
For investors, the attractions in Burma are its rich natural resources and the low
labour costs of a population of approximately 45 million.
"Also welcome are the people's ability to speak English, their industriousness,
and most reassuring to Japanese companies, their mentality that is very close to
the Japanese," says Seki at Marubeni.
However, the lack of infrastructure is a setback for many companies, particularly
those in the manufacturing sector. "Burma lacks water and electricity supplies and
other basic essentials. We will be staying sidelined for the time being," says a
spokesman at a major consumer electric appliances company.
In addition to the poor port, transport and telecommunications facilities, investors
also have to reckon with a dual currency exchange rate. While the official value of
the dollar is at around 5.60 Kyats, its actual market value is 20 times higher at
around 120-135 kyats.
As of the end of June, only five government-approved Japanese companies were
operating in Burma, their investment totalling $101 million, ranking sixth among
foreign investors. The top five investors are Britain, France, Thailand, Singapore
and the United States.
Among the Japanese investors, major trading companies are notably taking the lead.
Marubeni, in addition to the deals struck for joint ventures for galvanized steel and
soft drinks, is hoping to cooperate in the airport, energy and industrial complex
sectors.
"We also have our eyes on the farming industry, an area where Burma has a lot to
offer," said Seki, saying the country could become an important food supplier amid
the expected decrease of China's agricultural supplying capacity.
Another trading company, Mitsui and Co, is considering undertaking projects for
gas development, industrial parks, steel sheet production and hotels. (TN)